Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

This is good news - while we'd like to get our hands on a unit exhibiting issue, even better is that the issue is simply no longer an issue under any circumstances. Thank you for your assistance and fast reporting.

OWC memory test update - It is now 24 hours since the installation of the memory and I can report no issues so far. It would be premature at this time to sign off this test as being successful as there were periods with the original OWC memory where I would go a day or so without failure.

I will report back in a week, or earlier, if this issue presents itself.

OWC memory test update - I am pleased to report that after a solid week of testing there were no issues, not even a flicker.

I can only conclude, in my case, that perhaps, there were a batch of chip sets in the first memory I installed in December 2012 that was not quite to spec. I also suspect a design flaw in the HD4000 chip set contributed to this fault as we still have the HDMI sync issue still unresolved.

I have previously posted here with the flickering issue with my early 2011 macbook pro. I had assumed this couldn't be a memory issue as, despite installing new crucial memory, I was sure I had the problem before the memory upgrade. I must apologise as I today reinstalled my original ram back to 4gb and no flickering so I have ordered more memory from the apple store instead.

Sorry that my earlier post may have been misleading and I hope this update helps.

I have the same issue though I only noticed it when I hooked up an external display. Can go hours without an issue then random black flickers.

I don't remember where i got the memory from, may have to try the Crcual brand.

VERY frustrating.

I see that people have had success with teh Crucial brand but for me it appeared to be that causing the issue - at least it resolved when I installed the samsung ram that came with the macbook pro.

FWIW - we can effectively guarantee our memory compatibility and full Apple spec there for. I apprecite the recent testing done by a couple customers who had experienced past issue where our Memory was in the mix, but have been able to confirm no issue in the present day with current product provided. The Mac mini has it's own challenges likely related to the HD4000 video - even where we don't see similar issues with other HD4000 video equipped 2012 MacBook Pro 13" models.

I will add though that there are a lot of moving pieces. I use currently use a Retina unit that is fully factory (memory factory soldered) and while I've had no issues with my single display and dual display setups at two locations - a location I travel to and use an iMac in display slave mode, just last week this setup had a black/flicker on-off about once every 1-2 hours. I didn't have to restart, the display came back on as quick as it shut off... This was with a 2 Meter Apple Thunderbolt cable and in this case I wonder if just a signal issue?

In the case of the Mac mini, and we're still working to have a unit today (note Apple has continued pushing updates that do impact this issue for all the TB Mac models) where we can get the original reported issue to surface around a memory set. In that case, the report was consistently here with two displays and when the display went black, only a restart would bring it back. FWIW - in 2012, I did see the same kind of issues and lots of general frustration with my Retina as well - although usually the main issues were at initial hot-plug in. Today, things pretty stable.

If your issue is a periodic on/off flicker - I'd look first to the cabling. In the case of mini-Display port adapters especially, we have seen issues corrected by replacing a cheapie with one of our NewerTech or Apple adapters fixing that and other video issues.

The wierd thin is it's ONLY the Thunderbolt display that flickers, NEVER the second display. What could cause that? And its conencted with the builtin Thunderbolt cable

Just to update. I today received 8GB ram from the apple store to replace the crucial memory 8GB and no flickering as of yet. Previously I had flickering every 2-3 minutes or so, so it seems my case of flickering is also down to a memory issue.

(Macbook pro early 2011 2.3GHz i5)

Just out of curiosity... which BRAND is your Apple RAM?

I've always had good luck with Crucial and have experienced no problem with my TB Display and LATE 2011 MBP.

Clinton

It was adding Crucial to my late 2012 Mini that CURED the probem. Not a hint of blackout since that change.

I am not sure what brand it is (it was branded an apple sticker on the ram on the box says 1 Infinite Loop Cupertine).

I realise Crucial is a great brand of ram and it could have simply been the ram I received that was faulty.

I hope that helps.

I have had my TBD for a couple years, and it just started to cut out the same way.

I purchased mine in Sept 2011, and it's out of warranty. It's at the Genius Bar for repairs, and they say it'll be $200 to replace the logic boars (something the tech says is very common with the TBD).

What annoys me is that, yes it is out of warranty, but obviously it is a very common problem with the display. But there is no service bulletin about it, so If you are a sucker like me that buys an Apple product early, then you're SOL, even though it is a very common issue.

I called AppleCare and they say there is nothing they can do, and I'll have to pay for the repair.

I was also one of the suckers that bought a Powerbook Blackbird, and paid dearly for that too.

Apple has just lost a customer.

I had bought my Mac Mini Server 2011 around september 2011 and upgraded to Crucial 8GB immediately. In 2012 I upgraded to 16GB of Crucial memory with CL11. When I bought my THD last month and used it in a dual display through the HDMI-DVI adaptor. The flickering started occuring immediately on the DVI-connected display. I just replaced the Crucial 16GB memory with the old Apple-provided memory. The flickering went away. I am testing for the last 4 hours playing two videos in fullscreen each on a separate monitor. No problem to deliver :-) !!!!

I contacted crucial for their opinion since it seems their memory caused the problem. I found out in their site that they now provide two memory options for 16GB for my mac mini. One of CL9 and one of CL11. The former was not available when I bought mine a year ago....

Let's see what crucial will say about this. I am reading but as far as I am concerned they should clearly indicate the possible issues of their CL11 memory modules.

When I looked at the Crucial website, I see three different RAM recommendations for the mid-2011 Mac Mini. CL is the clock speed and I'm assuming that which CL is used is dependant on the processor used.

Which processor do you have in your Mac Mini?

Clinton